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Secret Blog Tour - Review & Giveaway (AU ONLY)

12 Feb 2014

Hey guys! *waves* Today, I'm participating in the Australian Blog Tour for Brigid Kemmerer's newest book in her immensely popular Elementals series, which is out in stores NOW. I'll be posting up my review and there will be a giveaway for 3 copies of Secret to be won by 3 lucky Aussie residents. Without further ado, here's my review :)

EARTH. FIRE. AIR. WATER. Nick Merrick is stretched to breaking point. He's trying to keep his grades sky-high or he won't get in to college. He's trying to keep his brother's business afloat or the Merricks will be out on the street. He's trying to keep the secret of where he's going in the evenings from his twin brother Gabriel - or he fears he'll lose his family. And he's trying to keep his mind off the hot, self-assured dancer who is his 'girlfriend's' partner. And then Quinn takes to hanging around his sworn enemy, and an Elemental Guide is counting the hours until he can try again to kill the Merrick brothers. Storms are brewing. On all sides. SECRETS IN THE WIND. DANGER IN THE AIR.

Brigid Kemmerer never fails to disappoint
with each instalment in her ‘Elemental’ series. This is probably my second
favourite book in the series (after Spark – because Spark will always conquer
all other books!) I’ll admit Secret could’ve benefitted from more action, more
heart-pounding moments instead of focusing almost entirely on the romance
between the characters. Nevertheless, Secret was gripping enough for me to
finish in one sitting J

Unlike Spirit, which seemed to have a
distinct plotline as well as romance, the ‘plotline’ in Secret was basically
Nick/Adam’s romance, and Quinn and Tyler’s developing feelings for one another.
I applaud Brigid for writing about a gay couple, but unfortunately I didn’t
*love* Nick and Adam as much as I would've liked. I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t feel
their chemistry. ( No one beats Nolan/Patrick’s chemistry in Revenge!)

On the other hand, I very much enjoyed
getting to know Quinn and Tyler better. Throughout the first three books, I
developed this intense hatred towards Quinn; I found her to be a very selfish,
and self-centred drama queen. As for Tyler, I never really cared about him.
HOWEVER, as I made my way through the pages of Secret, I found myself becoming
more and more sympathetic towards Quinn (she really does have a terrible
domestic life) and once or twice I even sided with Tyler, despite his tendency
to constantly find ways to ‘bully’ the Merricks. (‘Bully’ is an understatement
for his actions.) I agree with this these sentences used to describe Tyler:

"…People have different capacities for failure. And even if you fail in one area doesn't mean you fail in all of them" -Adam

"We see the dark side of Tyler because that's all he lets us see" - Michael

So Tyler might seem like an ass towards the
Merricks; he might be perceived as arrogant, violent, vicious and relentlessly
malicious but he could be extremely loving and considerate towards his
girlfriend or anyone he loves. And honestly, Tyler was exactly like that.

I like how Secret deals with teenagers
coming to terms with their sexuality. I just want to add in my 2 cents. I’m
aware that many high school students are ridiculously intolerant of gay
people, but from my experience there <i>are</i> high schools that
are extremely accepting. I.e. My high school. To anyone out there who may be
afraid to come out in fear of being bullied, I want you all to know that high
school isn’t the end of the world. I can guarantee when you enter University it
will be different. I have friends who hid their sexuality in high school, but
are now 100% comfortable with admitting they are gay because honestly, most
people in Uni are very supportive. They’ve joined clubs dedicated to
gay/lesbian/bisexual students and have met manynew friends. J So basically, HIGH SCHOOL ISN’T THE END OF THE WORLD GUYS!! WAIT
TILL YOU ENTER UNI. WE ARE UNDERSTANDING AND ACCEPTING OF EVERYONE.

What occurred in the last 50 pages was
certainly my favourite part of Secret. It was infinitely more exhilarating and
action-packed than the mundane lives (sorry!) and the slow relationship
development of the characters. I’ve also noticed that the events in all four
books combined seem to only have occurred over the span of a few weeks. I was
quite astonished when I realised Chris and Becca had only been going out for
one month, Layne and Gab for an even shorter amount of time. All I can say is,
the characters lead fulfillingly jam-packed lives!

If you're a fan of Brigid Kemmerer's Elemental series, I can guarantee you'll love Secret! I'm eagerly anticipating Sacrifice, which will be released later this year :)

A massive thank you to Allen & Unwin for providing a copy of Secret for review and for inviting me to participate in such a fantastic tour!

Ahhh, I didn't realise you were blogging again! Wonderful review, I've actually fallen behind on the series (up to Spirit heh), but I've got a copy of Secret waiting to be read as well. It's crazy how it's only been a month when you really think about it. And I agree about the gay part you mentioned. I remember in my review of Storm, I was quite annoyed at how sensationalised American high school life was. All the crap that happens made my blood boil. I'm not sure if it's because we're Aussies, but what in the world high schools do these people attend?! But anywaaaaays, totally agree uni is amazing!

Hey there,Thank you so much for stopping by my blog :) Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section; I appreciate all comments left here!If you have a blog, I'll be sure to visit it and comment back(I love finding new blogs so feel free to leave a link!) Thank you & have a nice day

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About Me

Hey there :) I'm Shirley, a 19 year old book lover from Australia. I'm a full-time Uni student during the day, and a reader/blogger/reviewer at night. I'm also a full-time fan girl, swooning over my many book boyfriends and hot celebrities every second of the day. In addition to books, I'm also obsessed with TV shows (REVENGE IS EPIC) :P As of early 2012, I am officially married to Noah Hutchins! You can contact me at:
shiirleyyx(at)gmail(dot)com